Byronic heroes in Harry Potter?

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

So, I've been poking around various websites and the like to gather characteristics of Byronic heroes, in the hopes of maybe writing a few into some of my own stories. One thing that several sites said which was kind of interesting was that Snape was a Byronic hero. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this; on the one hand, it does seem like he has many traits in common with the archetype, but on the other, it isn't clear to me if simply having the traits makes him a Byronic hero or if there'd need to be something more subtle involved.

So what are your thoughts on that? Could Snape qualify as a Byronic hero? Could anyone else in the series?

For futher reading, you can find the Wikipedia page on Byronic heroes here. My home dictionary, for the record, defines a Byronic hero as "a lonely, handsome, melancholy, flawed man, fatally attractive to women, as popularized by Lord Byron."

Comments

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Aack! Hwyla, I tried to respond to you, and livejournal ate my comment! Basically, I ran through all of the characteristics you list, and found that Sirius definitely has 11 of them - possibly more - while Severus has between 8 and 10. In marked contrast to Sirius, Severus is not rebellious. Nor is he sexually attractive - not in canon. On the other hand, he fits "intelligent and sophisticated' a little bit better than Sirius, who is bright, but not introspective or analytical. Neither young man strikes me as particularly cultured. As Jodel says, Severus Snape is a working-class autodictat. He's very, very sharp, and very knowledgeable in his field(s), but he doesn't necessarily have a well-rounded education.

Just my two cents!